I’m currently a Nat’l Merit Semifinalist and high school senior. I’m most likely going to attend UCF since they guarantee they’ll cover full cost of attendance for Nat’l Merit Finalists (hoping I progress to this level). I just completed an interview for a part time job at Walgreen’s that would pay around $9/hour if I get hired. My question is this, would any personal income I make affect any merit-based scholarships I receive? My family of four has an income of around $70k/year, so I’m not sure how much need-based aid I would qualify for. Any info is greatly appreciated.
Also, how would working part time affect the FAFSA?
No
You would need to check with the school…in most cases merit aid is not affected by earnings. And need based aid is not affected by earnings unless you earn more than about $6000 a year.
But any money you have in the bank would be considered for need based aid calculations. Still…it’s great to have money earned for personal expenses which typically are not covered in most merit awards (things like your discretionary spending, toiletries, school supplies, clothes).
National merit awards would not be affected by your income. It’s a MERIT award.
If you get the National Merit Scholarship at UCF and it covers full cost of attendance you won’t have any “need” left so you shouldn’t have to worry about FAFSA.
Some people with full merit awards file the FAFSA to get the Direct Loan to use for persona and discretionary spending amounts. Then again…some don’t.
But for the loan only, your income on the FAFSA won’t matter at all. Everyone can take the unsubsidized Direct Loan who completes the FAFSA.
If you get a full ride scholarship including room and board, the part of your scholarship that does not cover Qualified Educational Expenses(tuition, fees, books, required equipment) will be considered taxable income, and because is it also considered to be “unearned” income, it will be taxed at the parents’ rate if it is higher than the student’s.
So plan to set aside $ for a tax bill, or have it deducted from your paycheck, so that you don’t have any unpleasant surprises at tax time. You can probably estimate what it might be based on your parents tax rate from last year. if your parents pay no tax, the tax will be calculated at your own rate. Check out IRS publications 970 for info. about scholarships.https://www.irs.gov/uac/About-Publication-970
Most tax software will calculate the tax liability from this situation. You can also search CC for some threads which discuss taxable scholarships, for more information.
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and it covers full cost of attendance you won’t have any “need” left so you shouldn’t have to worry about FAFSA.
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Does UCF NMF cover full cost of attendance or does it cover tuition, room, board, books and fees?
Is the OP a Florida resident?
Yes, UCF covers full cost of attendance for NMFs according to Luke Van Blaricom, Director of National Scholars Program at UCF. And yes, I am a Florida Resident.
I think the question is what does “covers the full cost of attendance” mean? Is it just books, tuition and room and board or do they offer a stipend for travel and personal expenses (soap, toothpaste,school supplies …) I know Texas Tech’s NM scholarship does cover transportation and personal expenses.
And can you use your current health insurance? Some OOS schools apparently require that you purchase their student policy which can cost several thousand dollars.
@mommdc the student says he is instate for UCF.
I attended an event UCF held last weekend for Nat’l Merit Students and from what I can tell, cost of attendance includes everything. Books, tuition, room and board, etc. They even let NMFs pick a $1500 laptop Mac/Windows to keep. I spoke with current NMFs who attend UCF and they all told me that they get to keep any unused scholarship funds from each semester. UCF is a very appealing choice right now.
@thumper1, sorry I missed that reply. Please disregard my post.
Well…it’s good info for someone else reading who might be from OOS!
I’m just trying to understand why a student that is looking at a complete full ride with potential funds left over each semester is concerned that a part time job will effect FAFSA. Even is they need to take a loan to cover their tax obligation, their employment shouldn’t factor into it should it? Or is the concern that the income plus taxable scholarship will increase the taxes so much that the student would lose money buy working part time?
I just needed to know whether or not my scholarship would be affected by me working part time.
Thanks for the info everyone!
OP should also get Bright Futures and he’ll get to keep that money too, so it can be used to pay the taxes.